Open trip or private charter in Komodo: which one fits your group

Start with the cheapest open-trip bed on 3D2N: IDR 5,150,000 (≈ USD 316) a head. At 16 guests the whole boat costs IDR 5,220,000 (≈ USD 320) a head, about the same, and from 17 guests it costs less. Below 15 guests the cabins win, and the gap is widest for the smallest groups.

Prices step at band edges, so the last guest of a band is the cheapest one to add. A group of 15 pays IDR 5,070,000 (≈ USD 311) each, and a group of 16 pays IDR 5,220,000 (≈ USD 320), because the 16th guest moves the boat into the next band. Within a band every added guest lowers the cost per head. If you stand at 16 and can bring 17, the line falls. If you stand at 11 and cannot reach 15, price the cabins before you commit.

The charter page carries the per-person grid for every head count and every length, and the budget guide adds the lines that sit outside the fare. Every figure there divides the boat price only. On a charter the park tickets, the guide and the photographs come on top, so add them before you set a charter beside an open-trip bed.

Open-trip fares carry a local guide and a documentation set of GoPro, mirrorless and drone photography. A private charter carries neither. On a charter those two are lines you ask for, and we quote them separately before you pay. Park tickets and ranger fees sit outside both fares.

Both formats use the same boat and the same equipment: mask and snorkel without fins, paddle board, kayak, Starlink Wi-Fi, an ikat cloth for each guest and free pickup and drop-off in Labuan Bajo. The charter adds karaoke and a sound system. The open trip adds a snack and a soft drink.

Open-trip fares per cabin class, for two sharing on 3D2N and 2D1N, are on the cabins page together with the extra-bed rate. A cabin is sold for a minimum of two, and a third or fourth person in the same cabin pays the extra-bed rate.

Take open-trip cabins when

• You are fewer than 15 and the Monday or Friday calendar suits you.
• You want the guide and the photo set inside the fare.
• You are two people: a couple on the whole boat pays IDR 30,500,000 (≈ USD 1,871) each.
• You travel alone and a shared sailing is the point.

Take the whole boat when

• You are 17 or more, where the whole boat costs less per head, or 15 or 16 and want the boat to yourselves.
• You need to set the date, or keep one invoice for a company.
• The group should be the only people aboard and have the whole roof to itself: green turf end to end and around a dozen bean bags.

Choose something else when

• You need 25 seats at a table. The restaurant seats about 20 at its counters.
• Divers need tanks. This is a snorkel boat with no compressor.

With one day only, and Padar or the dragons as the reason for the trip, choose a different plan. Our full-day charter stays among the near islands: Kelor, Manjarite and Kanawa. It does not include Padar, Komodo or Pink Beach. The rate card prints a price and no stop list, so the quote fixes the stops.

A speedboat day trip is a different product on a different vessel and a separate booking. Tell us the date and the one thing you must see, and we say which product reaches it.

With two or three days, stay with the phinisi. Both lengths reach Padar or Gili Lawa and a dragon walk on day 2, and the open trip runs 3D2N every Monday and Friday.

• Head count written down, with the highest and lowest number you would accept.
• Dates: a Monday or Friday for the open trip, a date free in the boat's calendar for a charter.
• Guide and photo set: inside the fare on the open trip, a quoted line on a charter.
• Park tickets budgeted for every guest, in each visitor's name.
• Stairs: there is no lift, so list any guest who cannot climb.

Send that list to us on WhatsApp and ask for both quotes for your head count: cabins against the whole boat, per head, with the extra lines shown. When the two come out close, keep the one that leaves the fewest lines for later.